They have learned that there is very little possibility for the formation of relationships if students are not in close proximity to one another for a reasonable length of time.
Students who merely visit classrooms for short periods of time have less chance of forming relationships than do those who spend the best part of the day with other students. Teachers have argued that students who are removed from the regular class for remediation frequently miss out on important moments of the day. They question whether what is learned outside the chlassroom is as valuable as what is missed. This has led classroom teachers to collaborate with resource room teachers on devising ways to incorporate individual instruction within the regular class structure.
Rubbing Elbows
Teachers are also finding that seating arrangements influence the opportunities
for students to interact with one another. Seating a student at the side
or back of the room, as often happens in order to accommodate the teacher’s
assistant, does not create the same proximity as seating the student with
a handicap in the midst of his peers. Having a student with a disability
in a position to rub elbows with the other students makes it more difficult
for the teacher and peers to inadvertently “overlook” him or her. A
close seating arrangement also provides natural opportunities for neighbouring
students to interact during the day.
In the case of Patrick, a Grade 3 student who was unable to talk, the teacher moved his desk from the side of the room where he sat with the teacher assistant, to the middle of the second row. She observed that students near him began to duplicate his communication gestures in order to initiate an interaction with him. When he began to respond to their initiations with smiles, squeals and gestures, the students were so excited that their initiations escalated. They then began to invite him to be partner in line as they got ready for class movement, recess and music.
